Voltas Ltd., a subsidiary of the Tata Group, and Godrej Appliances are reportedly beefing up the production of their vaccine storage units to accommodate Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines, which require ultra-low temperatures.
Godrej Appliances has already developed its medical storage unit, which can store Pfizer and Moderna vaccines at -20°C to -80°C temperatures. Meanwhile, Voltas is planning to launch the freezers suited for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in August and will also be developing medical storage units for Covishield, Covaxin, and Sputnik-V doses.
Business Head and Executive Vice-President at Godrej Appliances, Mr. Kamal Nandi was quoted saying that their product is ready to be manufactured but hasn’t received any orders to date. He added that the government is now taking steps to purchase Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and orders for the vaccine storage units are expected soon.
Meanwhile, Blue Star Ltd. has also ramped up the production of medical freezers that can store Covishield, and Covaxin jabs, and also storage units that can accommodate the Johnson & Johnson and Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines, according to sources.
Blue Star had also said that its medical freezers can store Pfizer and Moderna shots as long as they are transported with dry ice and used quickly.
Dr. VK Paul, a member of NITI Aaayog, and Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan reportedly stated that an estimated 516 million Covid-19 vaccine doses will be available by July, and the supply is expected to increase to 2.16 billion doses between August and December this year.
India is currently battling a second wave of infection that is spreading rapidly and causing severe symptoms among the infected, while also facing a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines.
Two vaccines, namely Covaxin and Covishield have been rolled out, and Sputnik V will be made available in the market this week, cited reliable sources.
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